You have to pick your battles sometimes.

The Chesterton boys track team set their sights on a third Duneland Athletic Conference win and beat LaPorte 66-57 Tuesday night at Merrillville. The 12th-ranked Pirates beat the Trojans 107-25.

“We had some key things happen for us that were big,” Chesterton coach John Snyder said of his team’s victory. “We didn’t really have to gear it up. We just kind of let the kids go out and run and they did what we thought they could.”

LaPorte features one of the top long distance groups in the State and the Trojans biggest goal was to offset those points somewhere else.

“They are so good in the distance that we had to offset those points somehow,” Snyder said. “Sweeping (LaPorte) in the 110 high’s (hurdles) and going 2-3 in the 300’s (hurdles) was huge.”

In the 110 hurdles, Matt Raffin (16.56), Chris Robinson (17.03) and Will Butz (18.19) did the job. In the 300 hurdles, it was Robinson (43.49), Raffin (43.71) and Tony Smith (46.32).

“Our hurdles came up big with Chris Robinson and Matt Raffin doubling,” Snyder said. “Those were key point swings.”

The Trojans also scored points against the Slicers talented distance crew as Chester Vanek was second in the 3,200 (9:58.60), while David Osborn (10:01.07) and Thomas Halpin (10:23.19) finished 3-4. In the 1,600, Osborn finished third (4:35.66).

“Chester Vanek ran a PR in the 3,200,” Snyder said. “And David ran well and competed very well. I love the way he competes. You can tell he’s doing everything he can to win.”

The meet ultimately came down to the 4x400 and the Trojans came out on top (3:32.20).

“It came down to the 4x400 and if we win it, we win the meet,” Snyder said. “That’s a key group for us. Joe Raffin gave us a great first leg and about a 20-meter lead. We just held that from there.”

Other solid performances included Mark VanDenburgh in the discus (130-3 1/2) and Jake Szczudlak in the high jump (5-10).

“Mark is one of the top five throwers in the area and he’s got a chance to advance if he’s at his best,” Snyder said. “For Jake, that’s a six-inch PR in the high jump.”

The Trojans finished the DAC regular season 3-4 on the year, an improvement over last season.

“I was happy for the kids,” Snyder said. “That gives us three wins in the DAC. That’s a big step forward and with a young group that’s exciting.”

Merrillville 107, Chesterton 25

Chesterton 66, LaPorte 57

AT MERRILLVILLE

HJ – 1. Ashton Cole (M), 6-0; 2. Harold Turner (L), 5-10; 3. Jake Szczudlak (C), 5-10; 5. Kody Galloway (C), 5-8; 6. Remy Lewis (C), 5-8.

SP – 1. Brian West (M), 53-4 1¦2; 2. Jarret Rucker (M), 49-4 1¦2; 3. Nick Diehl (M), 48-6 1¦2; 5. David Raffin (C), 43-11; 6. Dan Dellumo (C), 43-1; 8. Mark VanDenburgh (C), 39-3; 9. Nathan Brock (C), 37-0.

DIS – 1. Ricky Salary (L), 144-10 1¦2; 2. Mark VanDenburgh (C), 130-3 1¦2; 3. Brian West (M), 120-10 1¦2; 6. Sam Jaeger (C), 101-5 1¦2; 7. Dan Dellumo (C), 101-3; 10. Nick Darnell (C), 90-6.

PV – 1. Tyler Roark (M), 12-6; 2. Keith Pavlish (M), 11-6; 3. Bobby Meegan (L), 11-6; 4. Tony Smith (C), 10-6; 6. Rob Surber (C), 9-6.

LJ – 1. Harold Turner (M), 21-2 3¦4; 2. Mason Alvarado (L), 19-8; 3. Chris Linn (C), 19-7 3¦4; 5. Matt Kollar (C), 19-3 1¦4; 6. Taylor Brown (C), 19-1 1¦4; 9. Ryan Knarian (C), 18-5 1¦4.

4x800 – 1. Merrillville, 8:26.98; 2. LaPorte, 9:03.08; 3. Chesterton (Ethan Hall, Sam Larimer, Ben Reed, Andrew Morris), 9:22.8.

110 HUR – 1. Ronneal Williams (M), 14.55; 2. Roosevelt Williams (M), 15.72; 3. Jeff Releford (M), 15.76; 4. Matt Raffin (C), 16.56; 6. Chris Robinson (C), 17.03; 7. Will Butz (C), 18.19.

100 – 1. Romeo Harper (M), 11.42; 2. Keith Dockery (M), 11.59; 3. Keon Jones (M), 11.73; 4. Joe Raffin (C), 11.86; 8. Cole Galloway (C), 12.03; 10. Matt Mabry (C), 12.09; 11. Rob Neiswinger (C), 13.07.

1600 – 1. Tyler Toll (L), 4:34.00; 2. Matt Miller (L), 4:35.64; 3. David Osborn (C), 4:35.66; 7. Thomas Halpin (C), 4:50.22; 8. Ryan Cutter (C), 4:52.32; 10. Chris Noel (C), 4:58.06.

4x100 – 1. Merrillville, 44.06; 2. Chesterton (Matt Mabry, Joe Raffin, Cole Galloway, Chris Linn), 45.76; 3. LaPorte, 46.73.

400 – 1. Gabriel Pirtle (M), 50.54; 2. Ron Crosby (M), 51.27; 3. Harold Turner (M), 52.15; 5. Joe Stahura (C), 54.41; 7. Remy Lewis (C), 55.35; 8. Zach Bloomquist (C), 55.92; 11. Adam Lukach (C), 58.38.

300 HUR – 1. Ronneal Williams (M), 42.24; 2. Roosevelt Williams (M), 43.41; 3. Jeff Relaford (M), 43.42; 4. Chris Robinson (C), 43.49; 5. Matt Raffin (C), 43.71; 8. Tony Smith (C), 46.32.

800 – 1. Corey Dillon (L), 2:05.19; 2. Kiel Lovekin (L), 2:06.09; 3. Quinn Roberts (M), 2:06.35; 7. Chris Noel (C), 2:13.46; 8. Ben Reed (C), 2:16.77; 9. Sam Larimer (C), 2:22.77; 10. Jordan Hoover (C), 2:31.01.

200 – 1. Romeo Harper (M), 23.27; 2. Landau Lang (M), 23.89; 3. Melvin Davis (M), 24.03; 5. Chris Linn (C), 24.30; 8. Remy Lewis (C), 24.77; 9. Adam Lukach (C), 24.99; 12. Ryan Knarian (C), 25.89.

3200 – 1. Matt Miller (L), 9:53.29; 2. Chester Vanek (C), 9:58.60; 3. David Osborn (C), 10:01.07; 4. Thomas Halpin (C), 10:23.19; 10. Jon Rogers (C), 10:50.22.

4x400 – 1. Merrillville, 3:22.92; 2. Chesterton (Joe Stahura, Cole Galloway, Matt Mabry, Joe Raffin), 3:32.20; 3. LaPorte, 3:39.18.

Posted 4/30/2008